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Action Comics Vol 1 36
Antagonists: * General Pirano ** his soldiers * Rex Bates, oil man Other Characters: * Corinne Camazzo * President Camazzo * Joe, pilot * stewardess Locations: * ** Vehicles: * Air Clipper | StoryTitle7 = Zatara: "The Dude Ranch Kidnappers" | Synopsis7 = On a farm out in Arizona, a father and his daughter are in dire straits. With money being tight, Mr. Nelson won't be able to send Sally off to college. Sally suggests they turn the farm into a Dude ranch, thereby making some extra cash. But the farm only had one horse, and no extra farmhands. Nelson admitted that if his old friend Zatara were here, he'd help them come up with some ideas. Late that night in her room, Sally pens a letter to the magician, asking for his help. A few days later, Zatara receives the letter. He thinks the Dude ranch is a wonderful idea, and because he's been in need of some fresh air and sunshine, decides to help the Nelsons out. Tong packs his master's bags, and once Zatara chants "Eb Degniw", they both fly off atop their newly winged suitcases. Sally is the first to spot the magician and his servant flying over the ranch. She and her father become more hopeful now that Zatara is here to help. First order of business is to remodel the old farmhouse. With a backwards chant, the house becomes new, even flower beds bloomed around its edge. Zatara offers to handle the advertising himself, while Papa Nelson just goes about hiring a cook and some farmhands. Flying into town, Zatara and Tong land atop a roof, and the magician casts a spell to make it rain gold coins! The townsfolk begin to gather together to catch the rich rainfall, but the coins strangely take on a new direction and begin to roll just out of reach. The people follow the money until it winds up leading them to the Nelson Ranch, now improved for tourists and locals. Father and daughter are overjoyed when the guests start adding their names to the registry, paying in advance for a room. Zatara, too, decides to spend a week or two at the ranch as a guest. A pair of hustling crooks visit Mr. Nelson late that night. They want him to pay up for "protection" of his new business. The outraged farmer throws them out. But they soon return, carrying cans of kerosene! Soon the ranch is aflame! Zatara is woken by the noise, and seeing the flames, he shouts "Erif eb erif-srethgif", turning the flames into fiery figures of firemen who put out the fire with water buckets! Outside, the crooks are disappointed about the fire going out... until they notice Sally Nelson standing outside alone. They grab miss Nelson and ride off with her on horseback! She screams for help, but Zatara is too tired to hear it. It's her father who awakens him, frantically reporting that his daughter's been nabbed! The kidnapping criminals find a cave they can hide in. As a precaution, they tie Sally up and dangle her over a chasm by a rope. If anyone tries to capture them, they'll shoot the rope, sending the girl to her death. By communicating with a few animals, Zatara learns about the cave, pressing onward. As soon as he enters, the crooks fire their guns at him, but Zatara forces the bullets to turn around and chase the crooks instead! One of the crooks manages to get one more shot off, though, severing the rope that holds Sally. She begins to fall fast! Zatara creates more ropes out of thin-air and sends them down for Sally to grab hold of. She's pulled back up safely, and very thankful to be alive. One last spell is cast, to levitate the criminals responsible for this mess and carry them to the police. The next day at the ranch, after all the trouble last night, Mr. Nelson is happy to be getting back to work. The money he made from all the incoming reservations was more than enough to send his daughter off to a good college. Zatara is just looking forward to a nice relaxing time on the ranch, free from adventure for awhile. | Appearing1 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * Antagonists: * Stuart Pemberton * Ted Allen Locations: * ** *** Vehicles: * Bomber planes | Appearing2 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * "Slim" Pickens Antagonists: * Unnamed woman * Jake * Joe * Mike Other Characters: * Unnamed coach * Officer O'Toole Locations: * Vehicles: * Slim's car | Appearing3 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * Antagonists: * Lu Chan Other Characters: * Valor's crew Locations: * ( ) Vehicles: * Jon Valor's ship * Lu Chan's Junk | Appearing4 = Featured Characters: * ** ** ** Supporting Characters: * Thola * Wilkins Other Characters: * Ancient Mayan Locations: * ** *** ** Vehicles: * The Aces' planes | Appearing5 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * Antagonists: * The Reed * "Big" Rocky Other Characters: * Charles Tracy * Diana Tracy * John Locations: * Items: * Mister America's Bullwhip | Appearing7 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * Antagonists: * Unnamed crooks Other Characters: * Sally Nelson * Mr. Nelson Locations: * ** | Notes = * Superman: ** Fifth Columnists is reprinted in and . * Last Action Comics issue for Clip Carson. Starting next month, in the June 1941 issues of "Action" and "More Fun", Congo Bill and Clip Carson will swap places, with Fred Ray taking over the art on Congo Bill, and George Papp continuing with the art on Clip Carson. ** Carson's villain, General Pirano, was last seen running out of a building, onto which Clip Carson was dropping a bomb, and is almost certainly dead. * Also appearing in this issue of Action Comics was: ** "Tale of a Mule" by John Hilton (text story) | Trivia = | Recommended = | Links = }}